Celebrating Australia — with poetry!

To launch the book, Lorraine spent last week visiting bookish blogs. She also asked each blog host to write a poem based on a poem from her collection.

Here is Lorraine’s poem:

SEASONS — AUTUMN

Autumn is loud crushing sounds a foot scuffing rap-tapping shuffle. One day a light dusting of pathway obstruction by week’s end a whole mound of slip, slide, crunch, crackle.

Autumn is loud splashing colours a yellow, rust, tangerine explosion. One day a brightness in twos, threes of pathway palette, by week’s end a whole Monet mosaic of buffs, shades, tints and silhouettes.

Today the Year 5 students at St Thomas’ Primary School in Claremont (WA) take up the challenge. They worked in small groups to create their poems, either using the patterning of Lorraine’s poem (find the template here), or loosely inspired by the poem.

Sit back and enjoy a poetry feast!

—

Spring Poem by Minerva and Abbey

Spring is the chirping of the bluebirds the gentle buzzing of the bees, one day lush blossoms bloom, By week’s end parks full of floral outbreak swish, sway, tweet, twirl

Spring is the soft pastel colours peach, moss and baby blue One day a lavender, honeysuckle eruption blows over the garden’s greenery, By week’s end the radiant colours have created a glowing canvas

—

A Day of Winter
by Yasmin

Winter is twigs snapping,
The howling of the wind
And the roar of a blazing fire.

One day there is pelting rain,
Across the Australian plains.
The smell of the soft brown earth fills the air.

A pitter patter, a splish splash,
And a clash of the mighty thunder.

The crackling of the burning logs,
The sprinkle on the roof.
And the rage of the mighty storm.

A thick mist covers the land,
And onto the window panes,
As the smoke curls from the chimney tops.

A swish, a sway, a crackle,
And a snap, goes the icy bush.

—

Wing (winter and spring crossed) By Sophie and Amy

Winter is a loud bang of lightning A drip drop of rain from the pipes One day a storm accrued In the scrapers A mud pit Of slip slide crash!

A dark ash grey in the sky A livid blue and a deep muddy brown One day spring did come In the big city By week’s end a rainbow of colour Of blues, greens and browns

—

Two Sides of Summer Poem!
By Jemima

Sizzling, crackling sausages on the barbecue,
Pop fizz the icy Coke explodes as it drizzles down the can,
One day in my backyard running under the sprinklers,
Splash splosh as I dive into the cold pool,
Mangoes, oranges, and watermelon as it drips down my face,
Split, chop, squeeze, chomp
Fresh fruit salad, enjoy it, it’s not a race!

The hot sand beneath my toes,
The mums having a cocktail under a shady umbrella,
One day dads fishing at the end of a jetty,
While the children are eating yummy strawberry ice-cream,
Bounce, crash, cheers, cling,
It’s the last day of summer!

—

Summer By Joshua, Oscar, Euan and Patrick

Summer is a splash of joy, with the boom of the ball and the crack of the bat of the back yard cricket game. By the burning hot late night barbie. A bright sunny yellow day. A lush blue sky and the scorching hot sand. Green grass swishing from side to side. One day a boy named Kent decided to fly in the summer breeze, he jumped and he flew like a boy in the hot summer wind.

—

Christmas in Australia
By Finn, Dylan and Gerry

Christmas in Australia is the crash of the ball hitting the wicket,
The sizzling of the sausages and
The crashing waves
Kookaburras are laughing and children are unwrapping presents
People eat turkey, lamb and pork at Christmas lunch
Christmas in Australia is full of blue sky and the yellow sun
Weeks after Christmas people are playing with their new toys,
and over on the other side of the world children are playing by the fire or in the snow
And back on Christmas Day people are swimming in the pool and having icy poles
Christmas in Australia is having lots of fun in the sun

—

Summer in Australia By Ella, Emily and Charlotte

Summer is the sound of people bombing into the pool, the sizzle of the barbecue, The crash of the waves, Rays of sunlight burn your skin On the beach playing cricket Slurp, chirp, pop goes the weasel

Sunsets burn the sky with colour a splash of colour on the ocean The sea is emerald and sapphire blue, sun shines on the Sydney Opera House

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This post was added by Rebecca Newman. Rebecca is a children's writer and poet, and the editor of the Australian children's literary blog, Alphabet Soup.
For more about Rebecca visit: rebeccanewman.net.au.
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I particularly like this line – One day a boy named Kent decided to fly in the summer breeze, he jumped and he flew like a boy in the hot summer wind. – Because sometimes things are exactly as they seem…